Tear Down The Walls/Bleecker & MacDougal - Fred Neil

Advantages: It's Neil Diamond
Disadvantages: It's Neil Diamond

...on with the review.... THE SONGS (yes, I know about blummin' time). I can't do all these songs justice without repeating myself endlessly, which would be even more mind-numbingly boring than this review is already but I hope you'll get the basic gist. TRACK 1: CRACKLIN' ROSIE Jolly sing-along pop with a dash of that echo-ey Phil Spectre wall of sound style 60s feel but with the bells and echo toned down. Neil Sedaka's "Oh Carol" styleee. Excellent guitar work (no really). A song of the character/story variety with the catchiest middle eight in the world. Something that will have you singing along and driving far too fast in your car. Sweary Song Score 7/10 TRACK 2: I AM... I SAID A song about "being stuck between two shores" the difference between where you've settled and your home. It's about being homesick for roots that you can... Read review

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Advantages: Earnest power pop
Disadvantages: Absolutely the least cool names in musical history even if you include "Gary Barlow"

...of the “love power” and two dorky white guys backing a talented black woman singing “It’s a world gone crazy keeps a woman in chains.” Around this time I paid good money to see the band live at Wembley Arena. Never a great venue for intimacy, they seemed to be going through the motions having done all the hard work in the studio. ‘Advice for the Young at Heart’ was the final single release from The Seeds of Love. It is pedestrian mellow pop at best and dreary preaching at worst. Luckily it is the last track on the compilation and easily skipped. The bonus track included on this record when it was originally released in 1992 was the obligatory new song ‘Laid so Low (Tears Roll Down)’. It’s a classic Orzabel track entirely reminiscent of ‘Shout’ which is not a bad thing and a welcome inclusion. After 1992, Curt formerly left the band while... Read review

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Advantages: A memorable chapter starting the second half of 'The British Invasion'
Disadvantages: An album that marked the closing of an era of creative composition

...quickly back to the Tears For Fears that we know and love, this next track, with its extended intro focuses once more on the textured feel of the sound and a 'let's cram in as many instruments and sounds as we possibly can,' mood. 'Broken,' features again the dynamic talents of Neil Taylor on guitar. Written by Orzabal, it turns fast then to slow engaging on a helter skelter theme in this music. It takes on a slight hint of Progressive rock and electronic gothic styles. Perhaps sounding more at home on a Phil Collins B side, it is truly experimental and sounds more like a jamming session that a track. A definite mixture of all sorts of genres and styles, it is hard to actually pick out a theme. Racy and busy like a rush hour in South London, I guess we can put this down to the genius of all that was Tears For Fears. Using the very same... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful